MUCH LOVE and little treasures....

I mentioned a few wseeks ago that many cool things would be happening in and out of the studio.

1.  MUCH LOVE Album Release Concert.
THE ALBUM ART is finally done, and the cd's been mastered!!! 4 days left til the event.  You can RSVP here to the free concert:  RSVP!

MUCH LOVE. jason chu, album art (front).

Concept behind the 
Album Art.
This is my first art direction for album art.  It was such a cool experience.  Photoshoot, to typographic layout, problem solving space and maintaining visual composition, to discussing life, to logo design.  Was really fun collaboration with Jason Chu.  Through the process there were many realizations not only creatively, but soulfully, Many thoughts of the message behind the words were coming through photographs and reasons why the typography is so spread out.  Like how MUCH LOVE comes in many forms, the space between us and that love is wide spread and shouts at us at different times.  We see....MUCH LOVE in many ways and with different eyes, but its all the same.

MUCH LOVE.  jason chu, album art (back)

One aspect that we noticed as we were finalizing the album art was that MUCH LOVE. comes in many forms, often times its not the way we expect.  Sometimes its in people, music, and indirect interaction, like the front of the album cover.  Since the photo shoot was a gloomy morning, just after the rain, everything around us that morning was so warm and fresh looking, so it turned out well that a natural warmth was in the atmosphere, and is conveyed through the photo.  The back cover became the idea opposite of brick walls and relationships, but of nature, and how we find much love in our daily environment, how do we respond to our natural surroundings.  This photo comes from my photo library and was shot with my Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS. 



CONCEPTS BEHIND THE POSTERS.  
Part of the campaign were 3 posters. The point of Jason's work isn't only to be centripetal around him.  But that the words he speak out in rap/poetry/spoken word would come out as healing to the soul, thought provoking, and a message of love.  The cool thing is that love isn't tunnel vision   So it was cool to scroll through my photo library to find the ways God has shown me love through my travels.  Here are the 3 editorial posters that were designed for the MUCH LOVE Project.

DTLA Skyline, LG MyTouch, October 2012

DTLA Skyline was actually shot from my T-Mobile MyTouch LG,  unfiltered, uneditted, besides the typography.   It was when a storm was rolling into LA.  The sky was amazing and unlike any view I've ever seen in LA (I'm native born and raised, its rarely this clear).  It was the last day of Brewery Walk just this year.  My colleague and I were standing on a 3 story metal scaffolding like balcony just outside one of the buildings,  She was telling me about her recent broken relationship, and yet both of use were changed through this moment.  The sky's the limit in a city like LA.  I said to her..Its funny how the sky is all mixed up, light and dark yet, its still the sky and gives us atmosphere, kind of like our relationships, there are good, bad, and sometimes, ugly, but as its never the same everyday.  I said it feels good to know that and that because we are in a city like LA, we can keep changing, but our choices matter, so where are you going to go if the sky's the limit?  She nodded in agreement.  So yes, In a broken world......

Ishinomaki, Japan, Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS, March 2012

Ishinomaki, Japan  I went to Japan this past March for relief aid to those who were and are recovering from the tsunami 2.5 years ago.  The link is an excerpt from my personal blog The AfterGlow.  The people there are finding hope, they have hope to rebuild and work very diligently and effortlessly to regain what they worked so hard for.  There are currently long term missionaries and volunteers building parks for the kids, praying, and actively participating in daily life with those who still want and need hope. Since the city has been wiped out from urban life, the sky is constantly revealing lights in this town.  In just a glance in nature and those surrounding us, We have hope.....

Allen Station, Canon PowerShot SD 1200 IS, November 2010

I don't drive, I take the train everywhere, I do whatever it takes to get what I need to get done, as well as to serve my clients well.  For my first mural project back in 2010 I had underestimated the time frame as well as the delayed by construction in Fullerton.  So I was going several times a week starting my day at 6 AM to catch the 8 AM Metrolink to be onsite.  Towards the end of the project, the deadline and grand opening date was getting really tight, so I had to triple time painting and such.  At that time, I was still new to LA train system and physically just exhausted, from everything.  That night, I was talking to a really good friend of mine, wise and discerning when I am not, she shared Isaiah 40:30-31 with me.

Even youths grow tired and weary,

    and young men stumble and fall;

³¹ 

but those who hope in the Lord

    will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles;

    they will run and not grow weary,

    they will walk and not be faint.

That morning, I asked Him for strength, and just for renewal, LITERALLY, my prayer was, Lord, just show me who you are.  I left the house just in the knick of time to catch the 6:50 am gold line into Union Station, and I felt a whisper in me.  "Look up".  I was floored by God's literal beautiful literal painting in the sky.  Like I knew a plane didn't do that. (so thankful I always have my camera on me).  I always look back on this photo for hope and with confidence how God revealed himself to me.  It comes in many ways as I grow in him, but, this by far was one of the coolest. We find healing....

We see......

MUCH LOVE. Logo.

2.  little treasures at Share.  

I'm glad to announce that on December 7th 2012, I'll be showcasing a small art show at Share & Do Good at the south end of Downtown Fullerton Artwalk.  I'm so excited because this is the first invitation to participate in an art walk.  It's nice to pull away from digital designing, and mural painting, to where my passion and natural talents for small intimate intricate illuminating illustrations

little treasures is an exhibit about the simple things, the odd but even pairs, the hidden things, and the tid bits of nature where we find moments and memories, storing them in our hearts as little treasures in life.

Share & Do Good is a store that my friend Lily Tokuyama's passion for giving back is coming to life.  Every product in the store gives back to humanitarian work/social justice.

I will be sharing my profits with Meyho Saephan who will be training and working in Bangkok, Thailand with Youth with a Mission (YWAM), Discipleship Training School (DTS), Children at Risk (CAR) program.  She is at 69% of her support, so lets get her closer to her goal....

little treasures opens on December 7th.  Come join us for opening night, but if you can't visit Share, little treasures will be hanging throughout the month of December.